Machine for taping lamp shades



Mwch 3% mm. A, G E B wmz MACHINE FOR TAPING LAMP SHADES Filed Aug. 13, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l Mmmh M HE 'A. G. IHIEMBD 9 M MACHINE FOR TAPING LAMP SHADES Filed Aug. 13, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to machinery for applying tape to lamp shades. Machines of this kind are employed for putting tape on the ring of a lamp shade, whereby the shade made of paper or other material is secured thereto. This ring may be either the-upper one or the lower one.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and arrangement whereby a machine of this kind is capable of doing the'work faster and more satisfactorily than the machines previously employed for this purpose;

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction tending to increase the efficiency and desirability of a machine of this particular character.

To the foregoing and "other useful ends, the invention consists inmatters hereinafter set forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig; 1 is a front elevation ofa taping machine embodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22 in Fig; 1 of the drawings.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 3-3 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig; 4 is a perspective of a portion of a lamp shade and its holder, showing how the tape is applied thereto.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises parallel longitudinal shafts l and 2 geared together by gears 3 in the. manner shown. The shaft 2 islonger than the shaft l and is provided with a gear 4 which is engaged by the pinion 5 on the shaft of the electric motor 6, which latter may be of any suitable known or approved character. The upper shaft 1 is supported in the bearing-block I, which latter is movable upwardly into a tilted position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The shaft I has its outer end provided. with afeed' roll 8 having a groove Sand a knurled end portion It as shown. Also; the shaft 2 has its outer end provided with a smooth feed roll H. The lower shaft 2 is mounted in a stationary bearing-block l2, as shown.

The stationaryside frame members l3 embrace the two bearing-blocks l and I2, and have a shaft l4 mounted in their upper end portions, this shaft being at right angles to the shafts l and 2 below. On the shaft 14 there is a cam 15 for engagement with the top of the bearing-block 1, and one end of the shaft M has an arm I6 connected by a link IT with a foot treadle (not shown), whereby the operator can oscillate the shaft 14 by foot, while both hands are occupied with the manipulation of the shade holder to which the tape is being applied; The bearing-block T has side pins I8 that are movable in the slots 19 formed in the frame members l3- previously mentioned. Springs 29 engage the said pins 18, and when the cam 15 is rotated the block I will rise and tilt into theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The top of the machine has a plate 21' against which the shade holder will rest while it is being. manipulated to receive the tape.

The tape 22, to be applied to the ring 23- of the shade holder, is fed flatwise intothe guide 24, on the guide arm 25, and the latter-has its other end portion 26 trough-shaped to double the tape ion"- gitudinally upon itself; before it passesv between the rollers 8 and II previously mentioned; The shaper 21 is pivoted on the arm at 28, sojthat'ltmay swing outwardly in a horizontal plane. Between the shaper 21 and the guide 24, there'is another guide 29', the latter being somewhat smaller than the guide 24, whereby the tape he'- gins to be folded at its upper and lower edges while it is passing-through the guide 29, and from there on the shaping is done by the trough-shaped end portion 26 of the arm 25, co-operating with the shaper 21, so that. when the tape moves onto the ring 23 it folds around the latterin. the manner shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, leaving a double edge portion 30 for attachment to the paper or other material from which the shade is made. It will be observed that the ring23 is fed or guided by the end: of the shaper 21, before it passes between the feed rolls, with the tape and shade, and the ring and tape and shade" are released each time one of the spokes 31' comes against the upper feed roll, itbeingobserved that the groove 9 previously mentioned" accommodates the ring and the tape in" the manner shown in Fig. 3 of the, drawings.

The. arm 25 is provided with a moistene'r" in the form of a tube 32 to inject vapor against the tape after it has assumed a partially folded condition, so as to moisten adhesive on the inner side of the tape. Obviously; the said moistener can be provided at itsendwith a sponge (not shown), and in that event water can be provided to thesponge to moisten the adhesive on the tape.

As stated; the ring and tape are released each time a spoke 3| isencountered, and" this is done by using the foot treadle to which the arm I6 is connected, so as to partiallyrotate the cam l5; thereby to permit'the'block l'to rise and carry the upper feed roll 8 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This permits the ring and tape to be moved outwardly from between the feed rolls and then put back again with the spoke on the other side of the rolls, and the work for each succeeding quarter of the ring then goes on as previously explained.

With the machine thus constructed and operated, the work goes along much faster than heretofore, and an operator is able to turn out a large number of taped shade holders, and thus the cost of production is substantially reduced. In addition, the taping is done more satisfactorily than heretofore, more especially on the holder which has the radial spokes, as the tape is put on more smoothly and neatly than was possible heretofore. It is obvious, of course, that the machine can be used for putting the tape on the lower ring of the lamp shade, to fasten the paper shade thereto, but in such case the successive separations of the feed rolls are not necessary, as the lower ring of an ordinary lamp shade does not have the radial spokes.

It will also be observed that the knurled end portion it of the upper feed roll flattens the two edge portions of the tape against the smooth surface of the lower feed roll I I, with the paper shade 33 between them, causing these two edge portions to firmly adhere to the shade, in the manner shown. Also, inasmuch as the moistener 32 applies the moisture at a point where the tape has already become more or less trough-shaped in cross section, the moistened adhesive on the inner side of the tape is not as likely to cause sticking and trouble and does not tend to interfere with the smooth and even feeding of the tape onto the ring or other object to be covered with the tape. And, in this connection, it will be seen that the guide 26 tapers toward the feed rolls, and that the shaper 27 is correspondingly tapered, whereby the tape goes onto the ring smoothly and uniformly and neatly, and presents a satisfactory appearance when the work is finished.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said means comprising upper and lower blocks by which said rolls are supported, together with provisions for causing the upper block to tilt into a raised position, when it is desired to separate the rolls.

2. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said rolls comprising an upper roll with a groove for said ring, and a lower smooth roll, the upper roll having a knurled end portion for flattening the edge portions of the tape against the surface of the lower roll, causing a double edge of the tape to hang down from the ring when the taping operation is completed.

3. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said means comprising a tilting block for supporting the upper feed roll, together with springs for raising said blocks, and an oscillatory cam for forcing the block downward into operative position.

4. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said devices comprising guiding means for gradually folding the tape lengthwise thereof, and a shaper extending into the guiding means adjacent the feed rolls co-operating to render the tape troughshaped as it is fed onto the ring.

5. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said devices comprising guiding means for gradually folding the tape lengthwise thereof, and a shaper extending into the guiding means adjacent the feed rolls co-operating to render the tape troughshaped as it is fed onto the ring, said shaper being pivoted on the guiding means to swing outwardly in a horizontal plane.

6. In a machine for applying tape to a lamp shade having an upper ring and radial spokes converging to a center, the combination of parallel shafts having outwardly projecting upper and lower feed rolls on one end thereof, adapted for receiving between them the said ring and tape and the edge portion of the shade, bearings for said shafts, gears between the shafts at the other end thereof, devices for feeding the tape in partially folded condition onto the ring, before the latter and the tape and shade pass between the feed 'rolls, means for driving one shaft to rotate both rolls in unison in opposite directions, and means for separating the rolls and bearings and gears to release the ring and tape and shade each time one of said spokes is encountered, said devices comprising guiding means for gradually folding the tape lengthwise thereof, said guiding means having provisions for moistening the adhesive on the inner surface of the tape, at a point in the length of the latter where it has become more or less trough-shaped.

7. In a taping machine, guiding means for guiding and folding the tape into trough shape, preliminary to feeding it onto the article being covered by the tape, said feeding means comprising a trough-shaped guide tapered toward its outlet end, with the trough thereof facing outwardly, means for directing the tape into the receiving end of said guide, and feeding means for receiving the article with the tape thereon and pulling the same from the smaller end of said guide, comprising a tapered shaper extending into said guide, with its smaller end toward the smaller end of the guide.

8. In a taping machine, guiding means for guiding and folding the tape into trough shape, preliminary to feeding it onto the article being covered by the tape, said feeding means comprising a trough-shaped guide tapered toward its outlet end, with the trough thereof facing outwardly, means for directing the tape into the receiving end of said guide, and feeding means for receiving the article withthe tape thereon and pulling the same from the smaller end of said guide, comprising a taperedjshaper extending into said guide, with its smaller end toward the smaller end of the guide, said shaper being pivoted to swing outwardly in a horizontal plane.

9. In a taping machine, guiding means for guiding and folding the tape into trough shape,

preliminary to feeding it onto the article being covered by the tape, saidljfeeding means comprising a trough-shaped guide tapered toward its outlet end, with the trough thereof facing outwardly, means for directing the tape into the receiving end of said guide, and feeding means for receiving the article with the tape thereon and pulling the same from the smaller end of said guide, comprising a moistener for applying moisture to the tape at a point in the length thereof where it has already become more or less trough-shaped, to moisten the adhesive on the inner surface of the tape.

ALFRED G. HEMBD. 

